The Insider’s Guide to SAP TechEd 2019

SAP TechEd 2019 is one of the most comprehensive SAP technical learning events of the year with plenty of networking and hands-on workshops. Here’s our sneak peek of recommended sessions and five reasons why you should attend the conference.

SAP TechEd 2019 is taking place September 24-27 in Las Vegas. The theme for the event is “how to make the intelligent enterprise real.”

As an attendee, you’ll learn what digital transformation means for your organization’s future and how SAP’s intelligent technologies can contribute to success.

Many of the sessions will highlight how you can use SAP’s tools to thrive in the experience economy. Ric Rogers, Global Events lead for SAP TechEd, states, “In the experience economy, data fundamentally changes how companies operate.” At the event, you will learn how SAP’s latest offerings can help you find more value in your data. Rogers states, “With this knowledge, attendees can help their company become an intelligent enterprise (poised) for innovation and growth.”

SAP TechEd is a unique conference, offering more than just presentations. You’ll have the opportunity to receive in-depth training on SAP technologies directly relating to your current projects. From one-on-one sessions with SAP to networking with your peers and sharing best practices, you’ll gain the insights necessary to drive more value from your SAP investments.

Here are the top five reasons why you should attend SAP TechEd 2019
  1. Preview SAP’s product roadmap

SAP is investing in the customer experience, having completed its acquisition of Qualtrics earlier this year. At the event, you will gain hands-on experience with Qualtrics and learn how it can help you better analyze and understand your customers.

SAP TechEd 2019 includes sessions about Qualtrics and the customer experience. Here are our recommendations:

Recommended SAP Roadmap Sessions

Make Innovation Tangible by Creating Amazing Customer Experiences

Sally Lawler Kennedy, Sr. Director Innovation and Design Research, SAP
Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Prepare your organization for disruption and digital transformation by focusing on the customer experience. Uncover the best areas for innovation at your company by creating a formal innovation process using personas, journey mapping, and storyboarding, which are key to long-term success. Follow the design thinking methodology used by SAP teams to discover your company’s true potential and deliver desirable, viable, and intelligent solutions. 

SAP Marketing Cloud and Qualtrics: Gain Insights with SAP Analytics Cloud

Ashutosh Rastogi, Product Manager, SAP
Rolf Sieberg, Development Project Manager, SAP
Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Thursday, 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Learn how to extend your SAP Marketing Cloud solution’s CDS view and analyze your key accounts in the SAP Analytics Cloud solution with experience data from Qualtrics to derive new insights. 

  1. Plan your transition to SAP S/4HANA

 In 2025, SAP will require you to migrate from its legacy ERP to SAP S/4HANA.

Although the deadline is still a few years away, it’s not too early to take advantage of SAP’s new digital capabilities. Many enterprises have already made the move, as SAP predicts at least half of its on-premises ERP customers will transition to S/4HANA by 2020.

Since moving to S/4HANA requires extensive planning, now is the time to start building your strategy. Here are some sessions to help you plan your SAP S/4HANA migration:

Recommended S/4HANA Sessions

Check Your System’s Readiness for an SAP S/4HANA Conversion

Jianfeng Wang, Dev Expert, SAP
Wednesday, 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

The SAP readiness check for SAP S/4HANA tool – intended for IT managers, architects, project managers, and consultants – provides a holistic analysis of your source SAP ERP 6.x application system including, for example, a simplification item analysis for SAP S/4HANA, custom code and add-on compatibility check, and data volume management analysis. It summarizes the important factors in an interactive cloud dashboard. Join us for a walk through of preparation steps and a live demo of the tool.

Move to SAP S/4HANA: Cloud or On-Premise

SAP Showcase

Explore the power of our intelligent ERP solution, SAP S/4HAHA. Understand the differences between SAP S/4HANA and legacy ERP solutions. Discover the tools available to help you plan your journey for any deployment option, including on-premise, in the cloud, or a hybrid model. Learn about the transition scenarios available, including key differences and decision points, to help ensure a successful deployment of SAP S/4HANA meets your specific objectives.

  1. Learn how to migrate SAP to Amazon Web Services

AWS has made significant advancements in its security, scalability, and reliability – allowing you to run your mission-critical SAP applications in the public cloud. In fact, AWS is now SAP-certified and can support your environment both today and as you scale in the future.

Learn how to successfully migrate your SAP environment to AWS in the following sessions:

Recommended SAP on AWS Sessions

7 Questions to Ask Before Migrating SAP to AWS

Marcelo Tamassia, CTO, Syntax
Noe Hoyos, Senior SAP Solution Architect, Syntax
Tuesday, 2:45 p.m.
Location: Bellini 2105

SAP is doubling down on the cloud and public cloud providers such as AWS who are now offering larger compute instances to accommodate even the most demanding SAP apps. Learn how you can quickly drive value from SAP apps in the public cloud to reduce costs, increase agility, and gain a competitive edge. In this session, you’ll learn the risks of relying on legacy SAP environments, the #1 cloud myth (and the impact it can have on your security), and why AWS is uniquely suited for SAP applications.

Lessons Learned in Migrating from On-Premise to SAP HANA in AWS

Katrina Koomey, President, Thorben
Wednesday, 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

Hear the lessons the U.S. Army learned in migrating multiple SAP landscapes to AWS and SAP HANA with SAP NS2. We highlight hybrid cloud architecture and best practices for improving DevOps, HA, and DR across SAP landscapes. We cover the use of AWS services, Splunk, and SAP Solution Manager integration for advanced monitoring; architecture standards for improved security and cyber accreditation; and best practices for managing AWS costs while laying a foundation for digital transformation.

  1. Learn from your peers who have moved their SAP landscape to Microsoft Azure

Many CIOs see Azure as a natural fit, as their teams are already familiar with other Microsoft products and will have less of a learning curve with its public cloud. Azure also has a high capacity for SAP compute and offers premium storage for running HANA and other databases.

If you’re thinking about migrating your SAP environment to Azure, check out the following sessions:

Recommended SAP on Microsoft Azure Sessions

Flynn Restaurant Group Succeeds with SAP in Microsoft Azure

Jon Friesen, Practice Lead, NIMBL
Thursday, 9:15 a.m.-10:15 a.m.

Even customers who haven’t made the leap to SAP S/4HANA can find room for themselves in the cloud. Hear how Flynn Restaurant Group migrated its landscape of SAP ERP, SAP BW, and portals to Microsoft Azure for increased reliability, improved performance, and reduced costs. We’ll talk about the project methodology, real-world challenges, and security considerations as we review public cloud considerations for legacy SAP applications.

Microsoft: Innovation, IT Agility, and Developer Productivity on Azure

Juergen Johnson, Principal PM Manager, Microsoft
Thursday, 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

During this session, learn how Microsoft Azure’s cloud infrastructure and services can speed up innovation velocity for SAP S/4HANA through a global infrastructure. Accelerate IT agility with deployment automation for SAP software, and boost developer productivity with SAP Cloud Platform services. Also, hear customer stories on how some of the world’s leading brands are running their large-scale mission-critical SAP landscapes on Azure.

  1. Apply security best practices

Your organization’s most sensitive data resides in your SAP systems, making them a prime target for hackers. At this year’s event, you can learn the latest SAP security best practices and apply your knowledge in hands-on workshops.

SAP TechEd 2019 has an entire track devoted to protecting your data: Security by Default. It covers three core topics:

    • Identity and access management
    • Complying with legal regulations and governing your intelligent enterprise
    • Securely building, extending, and integrating your business applications in the cloud

If you’re responsible for your organization’s security, you may be interested in the following sessions:

Recommended SAP Security Sessions

How to Run Identity and Access Management in the Intelligent Enterprise

Kamen Hristov, Senior Project Consultant – Development, SAP Labs Bulgaria
Tuesday, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Identity and access management comprises a strategic part of the foundation of the intelligent enterprise. During this session, get to know the out-of-the-box functionality to help you to run your SAP applications in a secure and compliant way. Find out how you can integrate that functionality with your existing solution for identity and access management.

Achieving Security by Design and by Default with SAP Solutionsv

Kristian Lehment, Sr. Product Manager, SAP SE
Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

In this demo-rich lecture, watch how to secure your system landscape using security offerings from SAP. Products include the SAP Enterprise Threat Detection and SAP Single Sign-On applications, and much more. This session provides a brief introduction to operational security measures that should be applied in SAP system landscapes.

Meet Us at SAP TechEd 2019

Stop by Syntax booth #524 where our experts will be on hand to answer your SAP questions and provide you with guidance on how to migrate to S/4HANA.

For a private, one-on-one session with one of our SAP experts on-site at SAP TechEd, secure your meeting now (limited spaces).

While you are at our booth, enter for a chance to win a Star Wars: Jedi Challenges AR Headset with Lightsaber.

Visit us at HPE booth #611 on Tuesday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. to hear Chris Pomeroy, Syntax’s Vice President of Cloud Solutions, discuss SAP managed services in a private cloud.

And don’t miss our SAP on AWS lecture session on Tuesday, September 24 at 2:45 p.m. where Syntax’s CTO Marcelo Tamassia and Senior SAP solution Architect Noe Hoyos will share how enterprises can effectively migrate their SAP workloads to AWS while minimizing costs, increasing agility, and modernizing their technical landscape.

Finally, make sure you stop by the partner demo theater on Wednesday, September 25 at 10:30 a.m. where Senior SAP Solution Architect Ekrem Hatip will discuss the Top 10 Questions to Ask Before Migrating to SAP S/4HANA.